After spending a clear and warm Saturday dealing with other commitments, my hiking buddy and I headed out early this morning to tackle Mt. Persis.  The views from Persis on a clear day are fantastic (or so I hear).  Unfortunately, today we were in for a helluva climb, a whole lot of clouds, and a bit of unintended adventure.

You can get to Mt Persis by taking FR 6200 off of Highway 2 east of Gold Bar.  Hang several lefts as you drive up through the active logging area and eventually you find a very small parking area (2-3 cars) next to an unmarked trail head at about 2800 feet.  The last couple miles of the forest road are terrible and I wouldn't attempt it without a high clearance 4WD vehicle (think large rocks in the middle of the road).  The last turnoff to the road with the trailhead isn't even on Google street maps but you can see it on the satellite view.  Below the map I've got a couple of pictures of the parking area and the trailhead.  The picture of my car is taken from right next to the trailhead to give you an idea where it is.

I did this hike last July so a full report of this very strenuous trail can be found here.  Therefore, I'll try to keep this post short and sweet and mostly focus on the snow conditions.